Practicing the Presence All Day, Everyday

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"You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you'll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me! And here I am, standing right before you, and you aren't willing to receive from me the life you say you want." John 39-40 (MSG)

Generosity, It's More Than That - Tammy Wendling

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After working in the non-profit world for a few years, talking about generosity is about as uncomfortable as “hearing” someone speak on the subject. Our minds immediately refer to dollar figures. For today, I’d like to wander down the road to suggest we view the spiritual discipline of generosity as a beautiful and transformative gift that enriches our lives well beyond those receiving our generosity. Putting aside the obvious and much-needed financial offerings to charities, groups, or individuals, let’s consider how we become more generous in new ways in our everyday lives.

     -With each day, we have the opportunity to share and show love to everyone we meet. A kind word, a smile, a head nod are undoubtedly lovely, but how do we elevate our offering of love to a generous offering?

Think about it; generously offer love.

     -Perhaps we consider how to be generous in how we judge others. Ouch! While we typically value our thoughts, decisions, understandings greatly, what happens when we broaden our judgment of others’ thoughts and decisions more generously? Instead of snap judgments confined to our own points of reference and context of understanding, we pause to consider something larger than ourselves.

   “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38

Think about it; consider generosity before quickly judging others.

     -This thought is challenging and difficult to consider. What if we commit to generous forgiveness? Forgiveness is a challenge with the best of intentions. How our relationships, spiritual health, and our world would benefit if we committed to abundant forgiveness.

Think about it; generous forgiveness.

     -What about our time and how we spend it? Do we have the ability to give more generously of our time to the Lord and in service to others? We are indeed an incredibly “busy” society, but are we “busy” with things that matter eternally?

Think about it; generously offering our time to the Lord.

     -And our talents, each of us has a spiritual gift God wants us to share to glorify His kingdom. The difference we would make in this world if we confidently identified our spiritual gifts and chose to share them with others is hard to imagine. Do we view this gift from God as an opportunity or burden?

Think about it; sharing our spiritual gifts to glorify God’s Kingdom.

     The list could go on. Overall, in considering the spiritual discipline of generosity, it’s my goal to view it in a larger frame than mere financial means. There’s so much more to giving generously. It’s essential to commit to becoming generous in all aspects of our lives. 

Dear Lord, help me commit to becoming a more all-around generous believer.

Tammy

A Follower's Thoughts on Generosity

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A Followers Thought - Correll Pritchard

Almsgiving and Generosity

2 Corinthians 9:6-8 says, "The one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work." Doesn't it make you feel good to help someone in need? It does me good. And guess what? It makes God feel good too. After all, didn't he say so himself in 2 Corinthians 9:7? Almsgiving and generosity are about giving of ourselves to help others. Whether it's giving our money to the church, charities, or the homeless person down the street, or whether it's giving our time and talents on missions trips, community projects, or as simple as saying a kind word to a stranger.

The point is it's about giving. You see, it's not about us. It's about others, thinking of others before ourselves. Jesus was the greatest example of giving. He gave his life for us on a cross so that we may have eternal life! Now that's the ultimate definition of almsgiving and generosity! As we go through these 40 days of Lent leading up to Easter and the resurrection of Jesus, may we reflect on what Christ did for us and give our money, time, and talents to others in need. And remember, do it with a cheerful heart because God loves a cheerful giver. God Bless.

Correll

Self-Denial & Fasting, Spiritual Discipline Worth the Work - Tammy Wendling

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As I sit here contemplating Lent and the spiritual discipline of self-denial and fasting, I'm in my make-shift home office (you know, CoVid). This space was, not so long ago, my youngest daughter's bedroom. The last renovation we did in this space was when one child moved out and an older sister moved to a room of her own. To make both of their bedrooms new and unique, we decided to paint - easy, quick fix, and the kids would be happy and set for the duration. Since it had been a while since we had painted anything, I checked the internet for suggested steps to prepare these rooms to be painted. Good grief, what an ordeal this was going to be! I wanted a simple fix and to move on. I took the "must do" steps, paired it back, kept it simple, and everything seemed fine. Except, looking at it now, the quick fix doesn't look so great. There are specks of paint on the ceiling, and a couple of places are even peeling up a bit. I guess the "ordeal" of more extended preparation and more involved steps had value and merit after all.

It occurs to me our spiritual lives are often like the decision and quest for a quick fix. Each new year, each Lenten season, we make well-intended plans and start reading the Bible more often, attending worship regularly, offering kindness to those that cross our paths, etc. Even with the best intentions, often these devoted efforts only work for a short time, and we fall back into old patterns. Like this peeling paint in my daughter's bedroom, it works great for a bit, but now we're back in the same place, needing to paint again. Perhaps doing the necessary and recommended prep work in our spiritual lives would also produce better results.

We consider what it means to put ourselves and our wants/needs last during this focused week of self-denial and fasting. Well, that's a cultural novelty today - putting ourselves last… We often consider fasting as a time to deny ourselves one food or another. It's so much more and includes any particular activity in our lives that has come to mean more than it should (electronics, hobbies, eating, work, etc.). The goal of fasting and self-denial is to connect our physical self to the spiritual. It means we learn to give our spiritual life prominence each day rather than the physical. It means we devote our whole spiritual attention to God. In doing this, we re-center ourselves with God and less with the messes and materialism of the world. We prepare to live fully with Him forever - not temporarily (like this paint job gone wrong).

We're moving through this season of Lent in self-reflection, repentance, and hope. As we set our eyes on Easter, let's embrace the "ordeal" and do the work to get our spiritual lives in order.

"Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.'"

Matthew 16:24

Love and Lent

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Former preacher, Virgil Anderson, said he was farming atop a little hill with his dad in the 1930’s. On one side of the hill he was singing, Will There Be Any Stars in My Crown? When he heard his dad singing on the other side, No, No, No Not One. 

Lent doesn’t always feel positive. Why? Well, sin. Embracing regret, sacrifice, humility, discipline, and repentance are about transformation, not affirmation. Lent calls to mind the 40 days of fasting and temptations of the wilderness for Jesus. Or, Moses and Elijah fasting for 40 days, or maybe the 40 hours between Jesus’ sacrificial death and His resurrection. This is a season when Christians embrace their utter need to be attending to spiritual disciplines as a means to receiving grace and willingly being “in the potter’s hand.” But does love come to mind? 

Love, in terms of sentiment or feelings of deep connection, is familiar to us. It is a wonderful thing but insufficient in itself. Lent love is based on sacrificial commitment; it fosters deep felt sentiment. In sacred Scriptures, love plunges the depth of committed relationships and is captured in ancient covenant ideas (see Sandra Richter, Epic of Eden). Think of blood packs in the movies. In our Lent case, a superior party, God, promises, in covenant fashion (Cross), His presence, provision, and protection to His rebellious former children through Jesus. The unthinkable, our Holy God condescending in covenant form to forgive sins and establish covenant relationships with us. One that reconciles us to our Father in one event, the cross and resurrection. Why? Love. My response is to accept or reject this covenant offering. In doing so my promise is to, by His power and leadership, willingly be conformed to His will and purposes. Astonishing! Even more than marrying my beautiful wife. A stronger party making all the sacrifices and concessions to the lesser. Love compels such things, and so love must be the response. So when you give up something this year, think of it as embracing the greater gift.

This year we will focus on celebrating spiritual disciplines during Lent via video lessons. I hope you join in and reciprocate love and sacrifice to foster your covenant love relationship.

Barry